On Sunday, 11th September 2022, faculty members from the Medical Education Unit (MEU) of MGIMS organized a Workshop on "Developing Good Study Skills” for undergraduate students. This workshop has been regularly conducted from 2015 and had to be paused during the pandemic. However, this time, the request to host this workshop came from the undergraduate students of 2020 and 2021 batch themselves. This workshop has been uniquely designed by MGIMS faculty, and we have conducted it in three national conferences so far to share our experience and train faculty of other medical colleges.
The entire workshop was delivered in a fun manner using interactive techniques, games and sharing personal experiences. The workshop began with Dr Abhishek Raut conducting an unusual ice-breaking exercise called speed-dating which allowed students to let down their guard and express themselves freely. This was followed by a session on ‘habits of successful learners’ conducted by Dr Subodh S Gupta and Dr Ruchi Kothari where students reflected on their strengths as learners, and used affinity mapping to share effective habits of successful students. Following this, Dr Anshu conducted an interactive session on memory and long-term information retention strategies, where she outlined effective strategies for learning and retrieval. Dr Smita Singh asked students to analyze their time management, shared practical tips on how one could reduce procrastination and gave tips on how to manage stress and anxiety. Dr Subodh S Gupta conducted a session on metacognition and self-directed learning, where he emphasized the need to plan learning according to one's potential. Dr Pooja Batra’s session focused on how one could make learning in clinical settings more effective. Dr Ruchi Kothari conducted a session on effective reading strategies, while Dr Anupama Gupta discussed the issues surrounding note taking. She taught students the Cornell note taking technique. Dr Abhishek Raut conducted a session on concept maps. Dr Pooja Batra and Dr Anshu conducted sessions on how to deal with the pressures of viva voce and theory examinations respectively. The session ended with an interesting game conducted by Dr Abhishek and Dr Subodh which emphasized the importance of collaborative learning.
The students were very upbeat with the workshop and said it far exceeded their expectations. They felt completely involved and said they will try out the techniques explained in the workshop. While the workshop did hand out tips on how to prepare for examinations, the overall focus remained on meaningful deep learning and lifelong learning, rather than cramming. The MEU plans to conduct similar interactive workshops for undergraduates on more topics in the future.